


never coming back down

by kingdomdizzy



Series: soriku week 2019 [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, SoRiku Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:02:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21721918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingdomdizzy/pseuds/kingdomdizzy
Summary: Day 2: I can’t chew him out like he deserves... If I’ve been asleep | DistanceSometimes when he slept, he would see Sora’s face, and that was as close to a dream as he could wish. But it never lasted long; darkness always consumed whatever good thoughts he dared to have, leaving him to wake up feeling empty. The only purpose he had was to wake Sora up.Maybe then he would cut his hair.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: soriku week 2019 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564216
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	never coming back down

Sora would have told him to cut his hair. 

Perhaps not short, like how Kairi liked hers, but he would’ve told Riku that he should clean it up a bit, make it so his bangs didn’t block his eyes, or the ends weren’t fraying apart between his fingers. When they were younger, Sora would sometimes just cut the ends of Riku's hair himself, despite how much trouble they both got into afterward. 

Riku never really cared about his hair that much. As he thought about it, if it weren’t for Sora grabbing the kitchen scissors, he probably would’ve never even thought about cutting it. That’s why it was so long, now; no one bothered to tell him that it needed cutting or took their time with a pair of dull scissors to snap it off themselves. So, Riku let it grow. 

He had lost count of the days that Sora had been asleep. Well, he told himself he did. Sometimes the days passed differently depending on what world he found himself in, but no one would ever know that he burned tally marks into the walls of the secret place. 

_Their_ secret place. 

He also counted months by how long his hair had gotten. When he found Sora in Castle Oblivion, his hair was just below his shoulders. Now, it rested around the bottom of his shoulder blades, meaning it had already been too long. Riku picked up a strand and looked at it through the blindfold over his eyes. Split, broken, right down the middle. 

_I can’t chew him out like he deserves… if I’ve been asleep._

What Riku wouldn’t give to do just that. How dare he take a nap right after saving the worlds from falling into darkness. It… didn’t seem fair. While Riku’s entire being seemed to be falling apart by the seams, Sora was probably dreaming. Riku couldn’t even remember what it felt like to dream. 

Sometimes when he slept, he would see Sora’s face, and that was as close to a dream as he could wish. But it never lasted long; darkness always consumed whatever good thoughts he dared to have, leaving him to wake up feeling empty. The only purpose he had was to wake Sora up.

If Sora woke up, maybe there would be enough time to cut his hair. Maybe… Sora wouldn’t want to cut it. 

Sometimes when he couldn’t sleep at all, the darkness would guide him back to the Twilight Town mansion. If Naminé knew he was there, she never let on. Maybe, somehow, she knew that he couldn’t control where it took him, and maybe that’s why she always knew it was Sora that brought him back. 

The control room felt entirely too small. Riku always found it hard to breathe, like whatever force working to keep Sora alive in there was simultaneously trying to steal him away. If this went on for much longer, Riku might just let it. He walked up to the pod, watching Sora’s calm face bob up and down, mouth hanging open slightly, eyes twitching sometimes. Riku wondered what he could have been dreaming about.

He put his hand on the smooth, cold surface. 

He wondered if it could have been about him. 

“Riku.”

Naminé’s voice echoed around him, soft and sweet, but there was something wrong this time. He could hear her worry. 

Without a word, she appeared as his side, watching Sora just the same. “Someone is keeping him from waking up.”

His hand resting on the pod curled into a fist. “Who is it?”

“I…” She fidgeted nervously with her fingernails. A trait she got from Kairi. “I don’t know.”

Riku lifted his blindfold slightly, enough that the uncovered image of Sora could be seen, then he turned and brushed past Naminé’s shoulder. “I’ll find them.”

“Riku…”

He kept walking.

“You could still take my offer.”

A pause. Hesitation. 

“You could still… sleep. Just like him.”

Riku glanced back, peeking at her through the slits in his bangs. If Sora woke up, he would be able to see her completely, see her for who she really is. One of the only people he could trust, one of the only people who understood why he chose to stay awake. She stood there, waiting for a response, but already knew the answer. Naminé always knew the answer. 

With a sigh, he turned back around. “I’ll find them, and Sora will wake up. My mind hasn’t changed.”

They both knew as he walked into the darkness that he wouldn’t come back. Not until Sora was whole and awake again. 

No matter the cost.

+++

Riku never quite got the reunion he wanted with Sora. There had been so much darkness still settled in his heart, his face was that of a man Sora hated. How could he still have cried over him? He didn’t deserve it.

Maybe that’s why, even after returning home and falling into some fictitious sense of what could’ve been real, Riku didn’t cut his hair. 

It wasn’t until the King’s letter came that it changed. 

Sora had been mulling over that letter for some time after they got it. Riku would often ask if his mind had been made up, but he would only respond with a small shake of his head, eyes unwavering from the horizon. “I have to go,” he said quietly, but never elaborated. 

The night they had made plans to leave, Sora was still there at the tree. His eyes were closed, only opening sometimes to watch a shooting star cross the sky. Riku never understood his beauty. Effortless. 

Sora turned at the sound of his footsteps and stares down at the pair of scissors in Riku’s hand. He might have tried to protest, saying something like, “We haven’t done that since we were kids.” 

Riku just shrugged. “I trust you.”

So, Sora took the scissors and started cutting. Riku just closed his eyes with a small smile, cherishing every movement Sora made that led to his hair falling off his back, onto the ground, being blown away into the ocean. “Y’know, I kinda liked it long.”

Riku huffed out a laugh. “Well, maybe next time you take a nap you’ll be in more luck.”

“Hey! It’s not like it was _my_ fault!”

And for that moment, as they laughed under the stars, everything felt okay.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading :)  
> twitter: @kingdomdizzy


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